Alcaraz heaps praise on Sinner ahead of Paris Masters

Carlos Alcaraz came out to clear the air on his rivalry with World No.1 Jannik Sinner ahead of the Paris Masters this week.

The 21-year-old Spaniard who shared two slams with Sinner this season lost out on the year-end World no.1 spot despite beating the Italian three times in five meetings in 2024.

Carlos Alcaraz has enjoyed a tremendously successful season, winning two majors (Roland Garros and Wimbledon), an ATP Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells and an ATP 500 in Beijing shared his thoughts on him and Sinner, describing the Six king slam winner as a player who is on a different level this yeat.

“For sure. I mean, [it] doesn’t matter that I have beaten Jannik three times. Probably I didn’t play good tennis in some tournaments. My percentage of wins this year is really, really high, but Jannik is another level this year,” Alcaraz said. “[He has earned] over 91 per cent of wins this year. So just [a] few players have done this before.

“But yeah, I think [all] players are looking for being more consistent during the year. In every tournament that you’re going to play, you want to go far or as far as you can. That’s my goal the next year. In the tournaments that I didn’t play well or I didn’t go as far as I wanted, just try to do it.”

Alcaraz has been consistent, winning 83.6 per cent (51-10) of his matches in 2024 according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Sinner has just been more consistent, claiming 91.5 per cent (65-6) of his matches.

Despite the battle for year-end No. 1 being over, Alcaraz is keen to finish his season on a high, beginning this week at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he is seeded second.

“I have important tournaments ahead, that I really want to go far [in] and play good tennis,” Alcaraz said. “The most important thing that I have to think is to understand the goals about the end of the year. I want to finish second in the [PIF ATP] Rankings. That means that I have to play good tennis and be fresh mentally to do good results in the last tournaments.”

Second-placed Alcaraz leads third-placed Alexander Zverev by 395 points in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, which serves as a barometer for the year-end PIF ATP Rankings. There is plenty of tennis left, beginning with a key ATP Masters 1000 event this week.

The Spaniard owns a 4-3 record at Bercy and has not advanced past the quarter-finals. He will begin his tournament against Nicolas Jarry or Lorenzo Sonego.

“I haven’t played good tennis here in this tournament. Probably at the end of the year, I have been tired,” Alcaraz said. “I think I did prepare really well this year. So I don’t know, you know… Coming to this year, I think I’m feeling different. I know what I have to do. I have been doing great work lately. So I think I’m ready to do good results or at least go farther than last year. That I think is not really difficult.”